In the absence of proper jobs, therapists turn to precarious work

Mental health services are becoming a network of private practitioners with varying degrees of experience and training, writes Ruth E Jone

Ambivalent sexism and perceptions of men and women who violate gendered family roles

This study draws on ambivalent sexism theory to explore the role of benevolent and hostile gender attitudes in determining perceptions of individuals who comply with traditional gender roles or violate them. Three hundred and eleven participants were presented with a description of a male or a female target who was either a primary breadwinner or a primary caregiver. As hypothesized, hostile sexism predicted more negative perceptions of a female breadwinner, whereas benevolent sexism predicted more positive perceptions of a female caregiver. Moreover, participants who endorsed hostile attitudes toward men reacted more positively to a nontraditional male caregiver, whereas those who endorsed benevolent attitudes toward men reacted more negatively to a male caregiver. Implications regarding the nature of ambivalent gender attitudes are discussed

Mechanisms of pelvic floor muscle function and the effect on the urethra during a cough

Background: Current measurement tools have difficulty identifying the automaticphysiologic processes maintaining continence, and many questions still remainabout pelvic floor muscle (PFM) function during automatic events.Objective: To perform a feasibility study to characterise the displacement, velocity,and acceleration of the PFM and the urethra during a cough.Design, setting, and participants: A volunteer convenience sample of 23 continentwomen and 9 women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) from the generalcommunity of San Francisco Bay Area was studied.Measurements: Methods included perineal ultrasound imaging, motion trackingof the urogenital structures, and digital vaginal examination. Statistical analysisused one-tailed unpaired student t tests, and Welch’s correction was applied whenvariances were unequal.Results and limitations: The cough reflex activated the PFM of continent women tocompress the urogenital structures towards the pubic symphysis, which wasabsent in women with SUI. The maximum accelerations that acted on the PFMduring a cough were generally more similar than the velocities and displacements.The urethras of women with SUI were exposed to uncontrolled transverse accelerationand were displaced more than twice as far ( p = 0.0002), with almost twicethe velocity ( p = 0.0015) of the urethras of continent women. Caution regardingthe generalisability of this study is warranted due to the small number of women inthe SUI group and the significant difference in parity between groups.Conclusions: During a cough, normal PFM function produces timely compressionof the pelvic floor and additional external support to the urethra, reducing displacement,velocity, and acceleration. In women with SUI, who have weakerurethral attachments, this shortening contraction does not occur; consequently,the urethras of women with SUI move further and faster for a longer duratio

The Effects of Rater Training on Inter-Rater Agreement

This paper addresses the effects of rater training on the rubric-based scoring of three preservice teacher candidate performance assessments. This project sought to evaluate the consistency of ratings assigned to student learning outcome measures being used for program accreditation and to explore the need for rater training in order to increase rater agreement. There were three phases during this project: (1) authentic student work was rated by department faculty members in the absence of rubric training; (2) faculty were then trained to administer rubric scoring guides; and (3) additional student work was rated by faculty after training. Inter-rater agreement was calculated pre- and post- rater training, using side-by-side comparisons. Little to no improvement in rater agreement was seen post-training. Implications and future research needs for rater training in the application of rubrics are discussed

Individual and Familial Stressors Among Rural Nebraskan, Bilingual, Paraprofessional Educators

Individual (e.g., depression, learning styles) and familial (e.g., social support) factors affecting the psychosocial well-being of bilingual, rural Nebraska, paraprofessional educators were examined. Of 26 participants, 15 were first and 5 were second generation Hispanic immigrants. All were currently (n = 20) or formerly (n = 6) involved in an online, distance education, bachelor’s degree program in elementary education, with English as a second language certification. Results from data analyses are presented, as are suggestions for working with unique populations

A Novel, Contactless, Portable “Spot-Check” Device Accurately Measures Respiratory Rate

Respiratory rate (RR) is an important vital sign used in the assessment of acutely ill patients. It is also used as to predict serious deterioration in a patient's clinical condition. Convenient electronic devices exist for measurement of pulse, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and temperature. Although devices which measure RR exist, none has entered everyday clinical practice. We developed a contactless portable respiratory rate monitor (CPRM) and evaluated the agreement in respiratory rate measurements between existing methods and our new device. The CPRM uses thermal anemometry to measure breath signals during inspiration and expiration. RR data were collected from 52 healthy adult volunteers using respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) bands (established contact method), visual counting of chest movements (established non-contact method) and the CPRM (new method), simultaneously. Two differently shaped funnel attachments were evaluated for each volunteer. Data showed good agreement between measurements from the CPRM and the gold standard RIP, with intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC): 0.836, mean difference 0.46 and 95% limits of agreement of -5.90 to 6.83. When separate air inlet funnels of the CPRM were analysed, stronger agreement was seen with an elliptical air inlet; ICC 0.908, mean difference 0.37 with 95% limits of agreement -4.35 to 5.08. A contactless device for accurately and quickly measuring respiratory rate will be an important triage tool in the clinical assessment of patients. More testing is needed to explore the reasons for outlying measurements and to evaluate in the clinical setting

DEVELOPMENT OF RECOMBINANT PROTEIN BASED CHEMICAL CONJUGATE MALARIA VACCINES TARGETING THE PRE-ERYTHROCYTIC STAGE, TRANSMISSION BLOCKING, OR BOTH

The development of a Plasmodium falciparum malaria vaccine is critical for future control and elimination programs. Recombinant protein based chemical conjugate vaccines, covering different parasite stages, are being developed due to complexity of the parasite and sub-optimal immunogenicity of recombinant malaria proteins in humans, respectively. Chemical conjugation of recombinant malaria proteins to carrier proteins improves their immunogenicity in animal studies. A transmission blocking vaccine comprised of the ookinete protein Pfs25 chemically conjugated to Pseudomonas aeruginosa ExoProtein A (EPA) is currently being developed for pilot scale cGMP production. Bulk lots of Pfs25 and EPA have already been produced and released following cGMP. Appropriate analytical assays are being evaluated for both in-process and bulk release of the Pfs25-EPA conjugate vaccine. One critical assay already evaluated for determining the average mass is analytical size exclusion HPLC coupled with multi-angle light scattering. Phase 1 human clinical trials are planned for 2011. Another biological target of interest is the circumsporozoite protein (CSP), the most abundant and immunogenic protein on the surface of the sporozoite. A recombinant nearly full-length CSP has been produced in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris containing a bioengineered free thiol for chemical conjugation to various carrier proteins, including a chemically conjugated form of Pfs25. This recombinant protein based chemical conjugation platform, in combination with better adjuvant selection, will improve the potential for developing an efficacious malaria vaccine

Chromium Tolerant Microbial Communities from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Chromium tolerant bacteria were enumerated from portions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and examined for their potential to reduce Cr(VI). Water and sediment samples were collected from various locations in Baltimore Harbor and Bear Creek, as well as Sandy Point State Park in Maryland and the Anacostia River in Washington, DC. Samples were spread onto agar plates with CrO42- (5 ppm) as the sole terminal electron acceptor. Plates were incubated anaerobically and colony forming units (CFU) enumerated. CFU arising on minimal-CrO42- medium ranged from 103-104 mL-1 or g-1 and community estimates from sites in proximity to Baltimore City were approximately 6-30X higher than distal sites. Bacterial identification by BIOLOG™ or 16S rRNA sequencing indicated the presence of bacteria of the genera Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Burkholderia, Kluyvera and others. Typical Cr(VI) reduction rates by these isolates were significantly lower than Shewanella oneidensis, a known metal-reducing bacterium. Results suggested that microbial communities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, particularly in Baltimore Harbor and Bear Creek, had a high tolerance for Cr(VI) and/or could grow slowly with Cr(VI) as a terminal electron acceptor. However, the isolates did not rapidly degrade Cr(VI) in the laboratory